Demons
by Dark Sephilim
Summary: Percy Jackson AU; A doomed family, cursed to be as evil outside as they are inside, and damned to different corners of the Earth. Three immortal 'children', finally on the surface, to collect soldiers for an army. The names of these immortals? Percy, Thalia, and Nico. But with war comes love, and in a world where love is shunned, will they stay and fight? Or will they find peace?
1. Chapter 1

**DEMONS**

**PROLOGUE**

A long time ago, a group of humans lived. They were quite a family, if a bit dysfunctional. But wasn't every family a bit dysfunctional at times? Twelve of them, there were, all 'related'. Not by blood, but by parentage. Orphaned, and adopted by a cruel man named Kronos. Their dearest Mother, Rhea, kept them safe. Finally, they snapped and killed their 'father', and their mother was taken with him. They became slightly more successful in life, beginning businesses or trading companies.

Then, it happened.

They were a family, but they were arrogant. All but one, Hestia, thought they were above all. An old witch, with years of experience, came and asked for shelter. Their arrogance forced them not only to refuse, but to insult her on her way out. Big mistake. She was old, yes, but also very wise and spiteful. She took her revenge not only on that family, but on their children too.

They were changed from a successful family into various monsters; Artemis was turned into a hunter, constantly scouring the earth hunting down her own siblings. Ares became a werewolf, as all of his children were cursed to be. Apollo and Hermes became wind spirits, and their children were doomed to run from danger eternally. Aphrodite's children were born with such beauty, nobody could gaze upon their faces. Demeter, who had insulted the witch greatly, was green skinned as would her children be. They would be exiled from their homes for being witches just as she had been. Hera could never bear children.

Hephaestus had not insulted her, nor had Athena, so she blessed them. Their children were inhumanly good at smithing, and incredibly smart. Dionysus had been passive. His children were to be ignored.

Three of the siblings had been very unkind though. Hades, the man who had answered the door. Zeus, the one who had insulted her work and beauty. Poseidon, the one who had sealed he fate as an outcast from the house. They were damned eternally to Hell, and transformed into demons, as all of their children would be. But who would condemn a child to that kind of fate?

All of them. All of them but Hestia, Hephaestus, Athena, Hera, and Dionysus, bore children with curses. Many had multiple children, all condemned with trying to fit into the mortal world, while they remained immortal and stuck at the age of eighteen, living through the centuries as whatever damned creature their parents had become. All but Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, who had only received one child each.

Their names? Percy, Thalia, and Nico.

All dressed darkly, and had dark tastes. They were demons, of course, but this made it harder for them to fit in. When they got angry, their demon forms would come out; dark, haunted shadows that screeched like a dying owl.

Thalia, the only girl of the trio, had power over air and electricity. She was intimidating, no doubt, with her bright blue eyes, and sneer. She worked as a maid for the 'big three' siblings who had been sent to Hell, eternally their maid, forced to clean up their messes.

Nico was the youngest, and had deep black eyes. Shadows and the dead followed him like the plague, and he was a servant for his 'father'. He served them drinks, and got them food, and did anything they wished.

The eldest of the three, Percy, got the worst job of all. Forced to go to the surface, he would hunt down his father's enemies and kill them, to ensure that their power over Hell was never threatened. This was his job, as he had power over water, and, by default, blood. _Less of a mess to clean up, _his father had said. As if he was just a tool to use.

Of course, the mortals knew nothing of this, not even the children of Athena, Hephaestus, and Dionysus, who were saved from the darkest curses ever descended due to their mortality and blessings. Of course, they saw the demons, but knew to keep quiet before they got committed for hallucinating.

That was how things remained, constantly the same, never changing for millennium. Now, of course, something has happened. The children of Athena and Hephaestus (not so much the children of Dionysus) were being hunted by demons and brought to Hell to raise an army of young fighters, and three people were mainly in charge of who got taken. Can you guess their names?

* * *

"What do you think it's going to be like?" Thalia asks me, looking me deeply in the eyes. I sigh and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thalia, I've been on the surface, it's really amazing," I say again, and she looks at me, her eyes still glinting with excitement. "Oh, I know what you've said, Percy, but still... we get to _leave. _Like, for the first time ever!" she exclaims quietly, careful not to wake anybody in the Shadow Palace, which was actually the battle fort where we had been trained to kill since we were three. Thalia, Nico, and I were fast friends in the army.

Nico jumps out of the shadows, but Thalia and I, used to his antics, but smile at him. "Thalia, you are aware we're going to the surface to pull innocent children into Hell, right?" he asks like Thalia is slow, and she just scoffs. "Yeah, so? Percy goes up all the time to kill people!" she says lightly, but my heart sinks a bit. I _hate _what I do; it's stupid. I'm supposed to be a son, not a tool, or even both. Just a son. _  
_

Honestly, sometimes I want to curse that old witch who cursed my father, but most of the time, I can see where she's coming from. There's only so many whippings and 'you're not sufficient' rants you can get before you realize that something's off. Nico seems to realize my bitter face, so he pats me on the shoulder. "Hey, we get to go to a 'high school'," he says, the word high school sounding foreign on his tongue. We were born knowing everything, just as all demons are. We never needed school, just battle training.

Nodding, Thalia looks about ready to squeal (which is very un-Thalia). "When we get there," she says, and Nico and I both groan. Thalia scowls now. "I'm making sure you both know the plan!" she snaps, and I look at her seriously. "Thalia, we all came up with the plan together. I'm pretty sure we know." I explain, but she just rolls her eyes. "Right, yeah," she says, waving at Nico. "I'm pretty sure we _both _know that Nicky-Poo here is going to forget in about twenty minutes."

Laughing, Nico rolls his eyes and scoffs. "C'mon, let's go," he grumbles, and we all 'teleport' out of Hell. No, we can't teleport anywhere we want, (except for Nico, who can 'shadow travel') we can only travel in and out of Hell. How else are we supposed to get in, the front door? Bouncing up and down, thalia's hands crackle with electricity. Nobody in 'New York' seems to notice us, even though we just randomly appeared on the sidewalk. In leather jackets. With huge bags. and electric hands. Shrugging, I sigh. Mortals never seem to see anything.

Thalia approaches our new apartment building nervously, as if it's going to attack her. Everything on the surface is different. I groan and grab them both by the shoulders and urge them forward. "C'mon guys, you look like idiots," I mumble, opening the door widely. They both stare in wonder, and I snap in front of their faces. We walk into the lobby, and I stare at the receptionist. She's a slightly round woman, who looks about 50. She wears glasses, and smiles at us.

"What can I do for you kids today?" she asks, and I want to snort and ask her, _Kids? Who did you think killed Hitler, or Vlad the Impaler? _But I don't, and just smile sweetly. "Room 7B, prepaid," I say confidently, my voice smooth like all demons. She smiles widely and hands me the keys, which I almost smack Thalia and Nico for staring in wonder at.

Grabbing their wrists, I pull them toward the stairs (I'll tell them about elevators later; I so don't want to deal with that right now) and climb quickly. They follow and I lead them to the right room, throwing Nico the keys. He stares at them carefully, then throws them at the door. I take a deep breath, pick them up, and face my 'cousins'.

"Watch carefully," I say slowly, before sliding the key in the lock and turning slowly. They both gasp in wonder as the door pops open, and Thalia tentatively pokes the door, making it widen. They bolt inside, giggling like schoolgirls. I look around the hallway, and nearly sigh with relief. _Nobody's there. _I enter the apartment and close the door, leaning against it for support. Nico is looking at the TV with wide eyes, muttering and poking at it's blank screen. Thalia is inching toward the refrigerator with a broom, which she actually knows _very _well.

I walk toward Nico and turn on the TV, which he quickly sits down and watches and stares at in wonder, even though it's a Spanish medication commercial. I jog over to Thalia and open the fridge door, and she puts her hand into it, gasping at the cold air. She laughs again, a bubbling sound I haven't heard in such a long time, and I can't help but smile. She runs over to Nico and tackles them, and they fall back onto a bed, and begin to wrestle playfully. Grinning a little, I chuckle. The beds on the surface definitely beat the wooden boards in Hell.

Thalia sits up, her hair rumples, and she runs over and hugs me. "You were right, this is amazing!" she exclaims, and her eyes fill with joy before she collapses back onto the bed again, sighing. "I wish we could never leave," she whispers, her eyes suddenly turning serious. I shrug. "We could... you know, put off our job a little," I say slowly, and they both stare at me in confusion. "You know," I say slowly. "Like, take a while. On the surface," I say, waving my hands around, and Thalia looks momentarily scared. "Like... lie to our fathers?" she asks, eyes wide, and I nod slowly.

Ever since we were young, we were taught that lying would not be accepted and that if we did, the consequences would be dire. Nico just looks surprised. "I'll do it," he says suddenly, sitting up straight. "I... I don't want to go back to being a slave," he urges, staring at Thalia, whose eyes harden. "So will I. What are they going to do, come to the surface?" she scoffs, and I smile at the two of them, before clapping my hands and rubbing them together.

"Alright guys, you keep this bed, I'll get the couch," I say, and I walk over to the grey couch at the side of the room. Sitting down, I see Thalia and Nico beginning to 'sleep' in the bed. See, demons don't sleep, we just go dormant for an amount of time. Like, no heart, no brain, no dreams, no nothing. Just resting. Finally, they go dormant, and I smile as I strip off my leather jacket and lie down. I close my eyes, and prepare for the darkness. _Tomorrow will be a new start. A new life, as another normal human. A whole new community, a whole new story, and whole new character. Just like usual. _

**A/N: Is this good, bad, anything? If it's not too great, I'm _really _sorry, but I tried really hard. It's a new kind of story for me, you know? It's completely AU, not even going along with the whole 'Greek Gods' spiel. As for you people who like to change the greek god names... sorry. I'm not doing that, it's weird referring to 'Poseidon' as, like 'Paul' or some name like that. Yeah. Bye!xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**'Education'**

**Percy's POV**

I'm startled from my dormant resting position by sounds of yelling and startled squeals. I sit up, and see Thalia and Nico gone. I jump and jog into the kitchen as fast as I can while still slightly asleep. Finally arriving in the kitchen, I take a deep breath. Thalia and Nico stand in defensive positions, their eyes flaming in black and blue, looking at the toaster oven lividly.

Leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, I raise an eyebrow. "What's the toaster do, try to toast some bread?" I ask, knowing that the toaster was one of the objects I had told them about from my 'expeditions'. Thalia looks at me like _I'm _crazy. "That... that insane device is the toaster?" she asks, and I nod slowly. He crosses her arms. "I put my hand in it, and I got burned!" she says, before smacking Nico. "It is _not _a hand dryer!" she exclaims, and Nico sighs. "Yeah, no, sorry, it's not like I'm an expert..." he mutters, rubbing his face.

I check the over clock. _Only 5:30 in the morning, and they're fighting a toaster... unbelievable. _"You guys hungry?" I ask, knowing that while on earth, demons need food to sustain their form. Thalia looks startled. "Like... food? Eating food?" she asks, and Nico snorts. "No, not _eating _food, _walking _food," he mocks, and Thalia scowls at him. "Don't pretend you know about the surface, you idiot," she mutters, and I smile at them.

"I'll show you how to use the toaster," I say, checking the freezer for my shrouded waffles, which I hid in there when I was here last. I knew I was going to return at some point. I take them out, and slip one in each side of the toaster, pushing down the lever. Looking Thali and Nico in the eyes, I clap my hands. "When the toaster beeps, don't panic," I explain, and they nod eagerly. "The waffles will come out, and then you can eat them," I say, knowing that demons (being heat resistant... come on, waffles aren't hotter than downstairs) can eat hot foods.

I walk over to the cabinets and grab a cutting board, then pull some shrouded fruit out of a basket (I'm an assassin; I stay on earth a lot, okay?) and cut it up. It's a banana. Thalia cocks her head to the side. "That's just a knife," she says, and I nod. "This is a _domesticated _knife, okay? No throwing, or cutting open people, yeah? Only foods," I say, and she nods. "Do we... do we put the yellow stuff on the 'waffles'?" she asks, and I nod, grinning. My younger cousins are independent, so I never really get to help them out, despite being the oldest.

The toaster beeps and the waffles pop up, and Thalia and Nico both pull our weapons; Thalia grabs her spear that crackles with electricity, and Nico wields his black sword. I grab the waffles, and they lower their weapons. I place them on paper towels (I'll go plate shopping later; I mostly just each waffles for breakfast, then eat out when I'm here on the surface) and plop them on the table. Nico and Thalia sit down at the table, and start eating like wolves. I smack my forehead with my hand.

"Today at lunch," I say slowly, "don't... get food, okay? Since we're stronger than humans, we only need two meals a day, and... I sort of need to teach you how to use utensils," I mumble, and they both grin, banana all over their faces. _This is going to be interesting... _

* * *

**Annabeth's POV**

I smooth down my pencil skirt, my school uniform perfect as usual. I'm sure if my mother was here, she would say so. I shake my head of that nonsense; she _isn't _here, and she hasn't been since I was born. My father, a professor at our Community College says that she was remarkably smart, just like I am. Not to be vain, of course, but... ever since I was younger, anything that had to do with the word 'learning' just _clicked, _like it was meant to be.

My father smiles at me as I step out of our SUV and toward Goode High School. He waves as her backs up the car quickly, not wanting to be late for work. The cars already in the lot range from sparkling new to old and rusty. _Goode is good! _My brain thinks mockingly, as I straighten and walk toward the entryway of the school, which is basically just a huge set of jointed stairs under an enormous archway.

One of my best friends, Katie, runs up to me. Her skin is so pale it's almost green, but not really. I think it's probably just genetics; of course, when she gets _sick, _she looks like a beansprout. It's pretty terrible. "Annabeth!" she yells out, and I smile at he, pulling her into a hug. "I missed you over the summer!" she exclaims, and I sigh. I did a _bunch _of camps this summer; Trigonometry, Architecture, Science, Biology, etc. Katie just worked on her father's farm.

I slip my arm through hers which she holds out proudly, and we both fake-strut toward Goode's doors, chatting lightly about school... we're both pretty studious. We reach our lockers (we're the unlucky ones right off of the doorway), and Katie looks at me mischievously.

"So, I hear we're getting new students," she says, waggling her eyebrows, and I raise both of mine. Transfer students are uncommon here, since we're a private and very prestigious school. "Maybe you'll find a-" she begins, and I glare at her, making her stop. She crosses her arms. "All I'm saying is that you would be so much less lonely with a-" I cut her off by swinging open my locker, almost taking off her head. My other friends, Travis and Conner, walk up to us wearing near identical jogging uniforms. They're track stars, but nervous and fidgety. Ever since I'd told them that I didn't have a mother, Katie, Travis, Conner, and my other friend, Beckendorf, had become really protective of me.

"Hey Annie!" Travis says, and Katie glares at him. Travis laughs nervously, and looks at me pleadingly. "Annabeth, please tell the nice lady not to rip off my face for something I may or may not have done to her garden," he says shakily, and I glare. "Don't you mean 'Annie'?" I say mockingly. He knows I hate nicknames. He pales and runs away, dragging Conner away too. Laughing, Katie drapes her arm on my shoulder, her pale skin contrasting to my deep tan.

"That was _classic," _she decides, before shaking her head. "He sprayed cleaning spray on my flowers; completely killed the entire garden," she says, her arms crossed angrily. "I was about to kill him, but he can always outrun me," she mutters, and then see looks behind me. The smile on her face drops, and she looks away from me and at the floor. I turn around quickly (but not like an idiot) and see three people walking out of the school office.

Now, when I said 'transfers aren't popular', I had meant that they never happen. Each class has about 10 people in them, so, really, _not a lot. _They bust in, and none of their uniforms are correct. The girl's skirt is rolled up messily, and her blouse is unbuttoned, showing off a black band tee. The pale boy is wearing the right things, generally, except they're rumpled and untucked and generally messy looking. The last boy's tie isn't even done, and his shirt is loosely buttoned, his pants the normal khakis. The girl groans, stretching her shoulders. "Man, really? Uniforms? I didn't sign up for this..." she grumbles, and the pale boy snorts. "No, I came here just for the outfit," he jokes, and then he looks up and stares at all of us, waving his hand. "Well, turn around! God, didn't your parents tell you not to stare?" he asks, and I quickly go back to unpacking.

Katie looks rushed, her normally pale face flushing red, a huge contrast to her usual pale color. "Hurry, Annabeth," she whispers. I stare at her. Hadn't she been happy about the transfers. I try to listen to her as she mutters. "Good for nothing... should've known... to good to be..." I catch, but she stops abruptly when a locker slams open next to mine. I see the girl from about... forty seconds ago, it was? Yes, 40 seconds ago, grinning wildly, her eyes bright. "Sup?" she asks, her eyes darting before Katie's quickly greening face, and me. He grin widens, and she shoves all of her books into her locker, then slams the door shut, holding a few books and notebooks.

Flipping her hair, she keeps looking at us. "See you around," she says, strutting away... for real. Her two transfer friends join her, and they all walk off, talking and laughing loudly. Katie greens even further, and Conner and Travis run over, Beckendorf in tow. "They know already!" Katie mutters, he eyes darting around wildly. I stare at all of them, and their nervous habits.

Travis and Conner jump from foot to foot. Beck rubs his calloused hands together. Katie rubs her cheeks wildly, like she's trying to drain the green color from them. Finally, Beck speaks up, his voice gruff. "So... why are they here?" he asks, and Katie looks seriously scared. My breath increases too, just from the though of my friends being hurt. "I have no idea," she whispers frantically. "Do you think one of us made them angry?" she asks, and Conner shakes his head. "No, we couldn't have offended them..." he mutters softly, and I finally snap.

"Okay, what are you guys talking about?" I ask, and they all glance around at each other, until finally, they nod. Katie pulls a card from her pocket; like a business card. I recognized it; I had found one, and Katie said it was her Summer job. That obviously hadn't been true; what else was I being lied to about?

I read the card I was handed, and become confused again quickly.

**Katie Gardner**

**Protector/ Warrior**

**Basement Route**

I stare at my 'friends' carefully. "Uh, guys?" I ask hesitantly. "You are aware that 'basement route' isn't a place, right?" I say slowly, and Katie taps her foot impatiently. "Yes, I am aware," she whispers. "It's not a set destination. It's my guard post, okay? Just... just meet us after school today, yeah? When we enter, show the people at the door the card," she whispers again, before looking around. She jumps, as do Travis and Conner.

I look up, and see the new students staring at us. My 'locker buddy' grins at us, and salutes us, swiveling around and talking with her friends again. Katie remains as green as usual. "This is bad. This is very bad." She deadpans, but Travis places a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be fine, Katie. We've been fine for a long time," he assures her shakily, but it sounds like he's actually reassuring himself. Katie looks scared; so scared that it scares me too, but I quickly brush that off. I'll meet them later. Still, though, I want to laugh. _You're eighteen! _I want to exclaim. _What experience to you have? _But no, I've been taught better etiquette than that, and smile politely, determined to be patient. I grab my books, close my locker, and walk toward AP History. I arrive late, obviously, but the teacher (Mr. Miller) doesn't mark me down, even though I'm certain he saw me. All teachers love me. Checking the clock, I tap my foot nervously. _Six hours and counting. _

**A/N: So yeah, UPDATE! Hooray, I'm bored, I wanted to write, ****_BOOM, _****a chapter happens. Yeah. Bye!xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Truth**

**Annabeth's POV**

No matter how patient I tried to be, somehow, I couldn't manage to sit still all day. The idea that something bigger than my normal life was happening looming over my head was enough to make me squirm. However, with the huge revealing party after school, it's magnified. Usually, I'm actually a pretty patient girl; anyone at school could tell you. But when something doesn't add up, it's like my brain will just keep analyzing it until it does.

My foot taps impatiently (or, I guess _I'm _the one being impatient, not just my foot) as I stand by my locker, waiting for Katie to appear. She does, with Travis, Conner, and Beckendorf in tow. She grasps my arm gently in her usual Katie like fashion, and walks me toward the door. Without saying a word, she leads me toward her car, fumbling with the keys. She finally allows us to enter the vehicle. We all sit down, with her in the drivers side.

Her breath comes in short gasps, and her cheeks turn a pale green, but she keeps relatively calm. My brain analyzes her. _She's hyperventilating. She's nervous. You should be nervous. _My brain says in an orderly fashion, as if just giving me a slight heads up. We exit the school parking lot, Katie's hands shaking, her eyes trained on the road in front of us. Travis plays with his hands idly or just stares straight ahead. Conner stares out the window. Beck cracks his knuckles.

I cough awkwardly. "So, are you guys going to... you know, say something? Like, where we're going?" I ask lightly, and they all ignore me, as if I hadn't said a word. Katie finally replies (at least 40 seconds later, my brain alerts me) and seems to grow in nervousness. "We're headed to my guard post. I had a job anyway, might as well tell you the truth in the right place, right?" she says, laughing lightly, before the car reverts back to it's empty silence.

The drive lasts a good twenty minutes longer until we come to a sudden stop at one of those huge highway bridges, where the elevated highway allows you to see the desolate concrete underneath. My 'friends' exit the car without a word, walking toward a virtually invisible door about 20 paces forward. Even though they strangely all flock toward it, my body pulls me toward the door, as if some invisible force is grabbing me with ropes and pulling me. I comply and walk forward, as if in a trance.

The door opens automatically, and we all enter. The door slams shut behind us. A narrow pathway leads forward, then drops off. Katie jumps straight into the hole, no fear whatsoever, followed by Travis and Conner, then Beckendorf. Now is the point where my over active brain would usually be yelling, no, _screaming _with warnings; don't enter, back off! This had happened often. I would find some weird dark hole that dropped off, and my mind would tell me to leave immediately. Now, it draws me forward. I jump.

Instead of a hard fall, like expected, I feel warmness surround my body and open up my eyes. I'm surrounded by people, and am lying on... a huge pile of pillows? Whatever. As interesting as my brain finds this, it want's to know more about the mysterious people with my friends, looking at me. A tall, blonde guy with a huge scar over his eyes approaches me and helps me up. He looks me up and down, studying me. I cross my arms, and raise an eyebrow, and as he realizes what it probably looked like he was doing, he blushes.

"So, who is it?" 'mysterious scar guy' asks, as if I'm not a girl. I look down. He starts shaking his hands. "No, no! I don't mean, like, _you! _I mean your mother or father!" he assures, and I look at Katie, who looks relieved for the first time all day. "No, _Lucas, _you can't go around insulting my friends," she mock scolds, and the new developments in the room all chuckle. I take a good look around. A tall, brown haired, red eyed girl stands, right next to... Lucas? Yes, that's what Katie called him. Then, a boy who looks like Lucas, just without the scar. A thin, black haired girl with bright blue eyes, and a _ton _of makeup. They all look at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to jump up and hug them.

Red eyed girl looks at me, and grunts, sticking out her hand. "The names Clarisse La Rue, that skinny blonde is Will Solace, the girl staring at Beck is Silena, Beaureguard, and the guy who was checking you out was Luke Castellan. Welcome to the Basement Route," she states, and I shake her hand firmly. She grins at that, and smiles at Katie. "If it weren't for her looks, I'd think she was one of my sisters," she grunts again, and Katie laughs. I cross my arms, and stare at her. Her laugh slowly sputters out, until everybody is staring around in silence.

"Well, are you going to tell me why I'm here, or did I come into some weird underground hole so that you guys could kill me?" I ask, and Clarisse nods. "You're the child of a cursed one," she says bluntly, and Conner smacks her lightly on the arm. "'Risse, we were gonna tell her lightly!" he exclaims, and Clarisse snorts. "Just do it quick, like ripping of a band aid!" she says, and Katie takes a deep breath.

"So, a long time ago," she begins, and Travis interrupts. "Like, a _really _long time ago," he adds before being silenced by Katie's death glare. "Anyway," she continues, "A long time ago, a family was cursed for their arrogance. They were turned into monsters, or, in some cases, hunters, or blessed beings. Mostly cursed monsters though," she says, slowly, and Luke rolls his eyes. "Let's speed up the process, Katie," he says, clapping his hands. "The family was cursed to walk the world forever, even the blessed or ignored members, as they did nothing to stop the arrogance, and their kids would be cursed to, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, that brings us to now." he interjects, and Katie just sighs.

"I never get to tell the full story anymore..." she mumbles, before continuing on. "You, along with _all of us, _as the child of one of the members of the original family. Luke, Travis, and Conner are sons of Hermes, and Will is a son of Apollo. They were cursed to have to run from danger. That curse sucked at first, but then danger became less imminent, and they just become track stars," she explains. I nod. "Next, Clarisse is a daughter of Ares, who is a werewolf. That _still _sucks today," she says, just like Clarisse would. (Which is, to say the least, bluntly.)

"Silena is a daughter of Aphrodite, who was cursed to be so beautiful that nobody could look upon her face and live," she says, before laughing. "Makeup is pretty popular today, so that's not a problem. Just cover up all the skin on the face, and you're good. She has to wear color contacts too, though." I look at Silena. At least she has a reason for wearing so much makeup. "Next is Beck, who's a son of Hephaestus. He was one of the blessed ones, so he's basically just good at making anything you want," she says. "Fun fact; Steve Jobs was a son of Hephaestus!" Conner pipes up. Blatantly ignoring him, Katie looks at me.

"Judging by your tendencies and looks, plus your ability to even be in the Basement Route, you're a daughter of... Athena, right Luke?" she asks, looking at Luke. He looks at me, squinting his eyes. "She's got the eyes, and the hair," he comments, and Katie nods furiously. "I know, right? That was what drew me to her!" she exclaims, and I just shake my head at my friends new found enthusiasm. "So, what does a daughter of Athena get?" I ask nicely, now that my thirst for education is quenched.

"Children of Athena were blessed with genius genes, basically speaking. You have the mental capability to become the smartest person on the planet." My heart soars at that, before Clarisse clears her throat, and Katie looks down. "Um, one more thing..." she mumbles, and I raise an eyebrow.

"Well, you see you're sort of immortal since it's part of the curse but I mean not a lot of us are born and you have to change identities a lot because you don't want people knowing you're immortal but you get to stay with a family forever isn't that great?" she says, breathing her words out quickly and stumbling over them. My brain turns fuzzy. _Immortality... _

No. No. No, no, no, no, no... I can't be immortal! Not only is it not plausible, there's also the fact that I need a life! I want to change the world, not stay in the background, just because I don't want to be noticed, or discovered. My brain freezes, and it's like my whole world just crumbles around me. Clearing my throat, I ask what's been on my mind all day, if weakly. "So... s-so who are the kids at school?" I ask, and Katie looks miserable.

"Of the whole cursed family, the three oldest brothers were the worst to the witch who cursed them. They were turned into demons. Those kids? They're demons. The children of the big three, the cursed brothers. But... the girl, and the dark boy, they should be stuck in the Underworld," she whispers, and Luke looks up suddenly. "You mean, all three of them are here?" he asks incredulously, and Travis nods. Luke whistles. "Wow, which one of you guys managed to get the immortal demons of Hell on our tails," he asks, and Travis glares.

"Usually only the other boy comes up, to drag souls into the Underworld. For what... nobody knows," Clarisse says seriously, suddenly solemn. I see something else in her eyes, something mysteriously like... fear. She's _scared _of them. Even only knowing her for a short amount of time, I know that that's an impressive feat. "With all three freaks here, I don't know what we'll do. We can't just disappear," Conner says, and I feel strangely welcomed into their group, as if being welcomed in by the imminent doom of all of us.

My brain kickstarts itself, as if realizing that it's needed. "I know what to do," I say suddenly, and I imagine a lightbulb going off over my head. "They already know who we are, judging by their actions this morning. So all we need to do is act like it doesn't bother us. If we need to, fight back, but we can use the oldest trick in the book. Be bluff them out, make them think that we have a reason not to be afraid of three dangerous demons," I explain quickly, and Luke nods slowly, his joking demeanor gone.

"That... could work," he says slowly, his head nodding. Katie shakes her head. "It won't work. They have nothing to fear but their own parents, and they're probably here on business for them right now. We wouldn't stand a chance against them in a fight, especially not one on one. We're doomed," she groans, falling back onto the huge pillow pile, burying her face into them. Luke follows her lead, and soon, we're all sitting. Travis looks tired. "We could just... you know... stay here forever," he tries, and Conner snorts. "Oh, yeah, that's a great idea!" he exclaims, and Travis rolls his eyes. "Shut up..." he mutters, and snoring sounds from their position in the pillows. Beck sighs.

"Sorry guys, they've been taking all the night shifts lately. They're super tired now. I tried telling them to let me take the shifts, but they wouldn't let me; it was like they had a personal vendetta against anybody who could enter the Route," he says, and Katie looks at me. "Hey, you wanna stay here? I could call your dad, and say that you're with me at my house. If he calls my home phone, my 'mom' will tell him that we're watching The Princess Bride," she says with a smile, pointing into the corner.

In the corner is a table with eight land line phones set up on it. "It's our 'home phone' hub," Beckendorf explains. "When the school calls or whatever, Luke does a voice over. He's really good." he says, and a female voice chuckles. "You know it, Beck," it says, and I stare at Luke in shock. "That's... really good," I comment, and he grins at me. He does voice overs of my favorite actors until Beck can really and Katie fall asleep too. As I'm lying down in the Basement Route, all I can really think is this. _How can my life change so much in just one day?_

**A/N: Yeah, I know, not the best writing. But this is really kind of a frustration story due to lack of creativity of writing at school, so... sorry. Yeah, tough luck, Buttercup. PEACE. xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**In My Life**

**Percy's POV**

I look up at the huge brick building before my eyes, and sigh. _ School; just about any normal teenager's worst nightmare. Thalia and Nico both glare at the building. "I thought it would be taller," Thalia comments with a critical eye, and Nico nods. "It's pretty unimpressive..." he trails off, and I drag them both forward, toward the doors. I quickly forge through a crowd of people all wearing the same clothes, with the same style... I wonder if it's a new trend. How long have I been gone from the surface?_

_Dragging a gaping Thalia (who subsequently drags a gaping Nico) toward what I hope is the office, I enter, and a sharply dressed woman stares at me. "Hello," she says emotionlessly, and I smile tightly. "Ah, hello, I'm Percy, and these are my cousins Nico and Thalia. We were enrolled over the summer," I say, putting some demon mist into my voice. Her eyes glaze over, and she hands me three schedules. "Here you go," she says in a robotic tone. Nico and Thalia quickly take theirs, and turn to leave. I grab their arms as I stare at the glassy eyed woman in front of us. _

_She's holding three pairs of clothes. Of COURSE they wouldn't purposely wear the same style; it's a uniform. I take them and throw them at my cousins. "Change," I order, and they look at the uniforms in disgust. _

_I walk briskly to the office bathroom, closing myself in. I quickly throw on my pants and shirt, then throw my tie around my neck, not bothering to tie it. I couldn't care less; if a teacher tries to get me in trouble, I'll just mist them up. Exiting the bathroom, I notice Thalia and Nico looking just like me. Disheveled. Nico pulls uncomfortably at his collar, as if it's causing him pain. Thalia frowns as we exit the office, whining about the clothes. Nico retorts. I juSt glance at our surroundings. _

_A girl with blatantly green skin (at least to those of us who can see through the mist) is gazing at us in fear. I refrain from smirking. Clearly someone told us about demons; the metaphorical monsters under your bed. Thalia glances at me, and winks subtly. "I got this one," she whispers lightly, and I nod almost unnoticably. Thalia may not know about the surface, and lying may be new to her, but she's a demon. Scare tactics is a specialty. _

_I see her grinning and conversing with the girl and her friend, a blonde girl with grey eyes. My heart beats once, and I look down at my chest in confusion. What in the seventh gates of Hell? I haven't had a heartbeat since I was a developing little baby demon. I shake my head, and clear my thoughts. It was a coincidence. I just thought it happened. Thalia returns, and I smile at her. She laughs. _

_"That was awesome!" she exclaims, pulling me down the hallway. I pause at my locker, and smile at her. "Keep smiling," I tell both of them, and they listen. "Laugh like I just told you a funny joke," I order. They comply. "We need to make a decision. We can drag them down to our fathers, or we can stay here," I state quickly. Thalia and Nico tense, but keep laughing and smiling like I told them to. Waving my hands around like I'm telling a joke, continue to talk. "Decide my the end of the day. This will decide your fates," I finish, and they look slighlty scared. I feel slightly guilty for dumping this on them, but I've waited a long time for this opportunity; for all of us to be away together. _

_I have a perfect view of Demeter's daughter and her friends from here. She's been joined by two tall runners, and a kid of Hephaestus. Thalia turns to see what I'm looking at, and Nico turns after Thalia does. The odd group turns to us, and Thalia winks. I roll my eyes, and grab her arm. "Come on, Thalia, let's scope out the school." _

_We did scope the place out, but there didn't seem to be any more people. My head starts to burn and throb, and I clench my teeth. I've yet to tell my cousins the dark side of being the assassin; I have a small empathy link with my father. He can't feel my thoughts, though, I can only feel his. His fury, his pain, everything her thinks constantly. I've gotten used to it by now, but when he gets this angry, it's hard to ignore. _

* * *

_The rest of the school day passed without incident. Thalia and Nico skipped lunch and conversed about the surface in the library. All of the classes were easy. Our teachers 'loved' us. _

_"We're really doing this, aren't we?" Thalia asks once we're back in the apartment. Nico nods solemnly. "Rebelling. Everyone has to at some point; it't the only way that unjust rulers are put out of power." I nod my head. "You can back out any time you want; the other two won't rat you out. You have your own voice in this trio, and we're going to help the other cursed ones against our father's armies," I explain. Nico pulls out his ring-sword and polishes it with a towel (no idea where he got it). "Together?" Thalia speaks so quietly, it's almost silent. I smile, and hug her. "Always."_

_"Now we need to find those kids..." Nico mutters, stroking his chin. I chuckle, and pull out my phone. Opening it up, I open the FIND THAT SUPERNATURAL app (only available to supernaturals; kind of like 'Facebook') I bring up a photo of the green girl that I took earlier. And no, I am not a stalker, I just know my cousins. I knew they would choose right. I enter the photo, and a single name populates. Katie Gardner. _

_Her profile picture is he smiling, her green eyes matching her skin. Her bio simply says: farmers for life! Basement Route with my besties, the Basers! A few people have commented, like Luke Castellan and Clarisse La Rue. I flip my phone around and show my cousins, and Thalia makes an impressed noise in the back of her throat. "I need to get one of those," she whistles. _

_"So, the Basement Route," Nico comments, and I nod. At the Shadow Palace, you need to memorize all of the guard routes of supernaturals, so that during attacks, you know where the defenders could possibly run. "I know that route well, it's just off the highway," I say, and Nico nods. "I could probably shadow travel us in and scare them," he says, but I shake my head. "Nah, they'd probably try to impale us if we just dropped in on their conversation," I reply._

_Thalia quirks her mouth. "We could tie them up and make them let us join," she suggests, and I shake my head. "I think we could just... you know... talk to them. Like, ask them if we can join," I say slowly, and Nico and Thalia gape. "Uh, yeah," Thalia says slowly, before staring at Nico. Nico just shrugs. "Whatever. But if they deny us, I vote for Thalia's plan."_

_Ignoring Nico's last comment, I pick up my phone and flip back to the already running app. I go to my profile, and open up Private Friends. Rachel's name pops up, and I press it immediately. Her red haired picture comes up, and I press it. Her number pops up on my phone and it begins dialing. On the fourth ring, she picks up. "Hello?" She asks mildly. _

_"Hey Rachel," I begin, and I can almost feel her smile on the other line. Rachel is a demon, but she's a special case. Her dad had been terrible to her while was a human, and she killed him in her late teens, earning herself a nice spot just past the first gate of Hell, where all the 'somewhat bad' people went. But, she had a power; the power of sight. Zeus jumped at The opportunity to gain a seer, and she was made a demon, part of my closest squadron, and eventually one of my closest friends. We tried dating once, but it was like dating your sister; not cool. _

_"Perce!" She exclaims, and then I hear her sigh. "I know what you're doing, and it's going to be a difficult path that you're taking. It has been foretold," she says quickly. I sigh too. "Rachel, level with me here. We've known each other for a long time. You know what my father is like... you know what Zeus and Hades are like. They need to go, Rach! They're using innocents to fill their front line, and they're using demons to fight too. Demons are supposed to be scarce, only used to guard the Underworld. But they're raising hundreds. I've called you to see if... you wanted to join us," I say, my voice sounding desperate. I know it does. _

_I know that Thalia and Nico probably hear me; they are about ten feet away. But they pretend not to, because they know that I only show weakness with Rachel. They might not like it, but I'm comfortable around her. _

_Rachel is silent, and I can picture her chewing her lip as she thinks. Finally, I hear her release a breath. "Fine. I'm coming. I'll follow your soul signature." _

_I smile, happy that she had relented. I was always better at planning with Rachel's creativity. I mutter a quick goodbye to Rachel, and put my phone away. Looking at Nico and Thalia, I grin. "She's in. We'll get in; trust me. The other supernaturals aren't out problem. Our problem is our father's. They aren't going to relent any time soon, and revealing ourselves outright will be suicide. If contacted, act like you're still planning on pulling innocents down. Tell them... that we're rounding up supernaturals so that we can drag them all down at the same time," I explain, and Thalia and Nico nod. _

_"What if they decide to like... check on us in person," Thalia asks, but her voice holds doubt. Our fathers NEVER visit us. But with weeks without contact, and the Underworld's top seer missing, an unscheduled visit might not be too crazy. "At school tomorrow, we'll talk to the Basement Route kids. Then, we'll our plan," a familiar voice says, and I turn, grinning at Rachel. She holds up a lock picking kit. _

_"You left the door unlocked," she says slyly, and I can't help but laugh, grabbing her in a hug. "I missed you," she whispers, before stepping back and slapping me gently on the arm. "I swear, if coming up here and helping out my bro lessens my ability to get dear Jason as a date, you're dead," she says, and Thalia wrinkles her nose. Jason is like Rachel; he isn't related directly to Thalia, but they hace a close brother-sister relationship. Nico used to have a 'sister' named Bianca, but she fell in battle. He never stopped blaming Hades for that one. _

_I throw arm casually around Rachel's shoulders, and smirk at my cousins. "Get a good dormant time. Tomorrow, our lives are going to change." I head toward the couch, and sit down next to Rachel. Thalia and Nico tuck themselves into the bed, immediately going still. Rachel runs a hand through her hair, and I can see that she's happy to be alone with me, without Thalia and Nico. _

_"You know I don't actually like Jason, right?" She mutters, her head on my shoulder. I laugh at that. "Duh. I know who you like," I say, and she groans. Of course you do. Because of-" she begins, and I smile, and we say at the same time, "Piper's party." Rachel groans in despair. "I can't believe I admitted to you that I find Apollo inspiring and attractive..." she moans, and I laugh. "Well, you did. Hey, maybe being on the surface world will help you earn points with him," I suggest, and Rachel sighs. "I guess so," she whispers, her eyes somewhat... sad. _

_I wrap my arm around Rachel and sigh. "How bad was the vision of our... rebellion?" I ask hesitantly. Rachel looks away from me. "Bad. Like, really bad. There was so much blood, and suffering, and... Percy, you have no idea!" She finally exclaims, and I take a deep breath. "Relax, Rach. I'll make sure you get out of this," I whisper, and I finish my sentence after her body goes dormant. "Just like always."_

**_A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I sort of got writers block. Anyway, we'll see how that "diplomatic" meeting goes next time._**


End file.
